Trolley.



No. 739,164. PATENTED SEPT. I5, 1903,

i E. E. FREDERICK.

TROLLEY. APPLICATION FILED APR. 30. 1903.

N0 MODEL.

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bxdigzsses Igcnor, og n x by j I @/Zhforgeays UNITED STATES j Patented September 15, 1903.

ELMER E. FREDERICK, OF EASTON, PENNSYLVANIA.

TROLLEY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 739,164, dated September '15, 1903.

Application filed AprilSO, 1903. Serial No. 155,045. (No model.) I

To @ZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ELMER E. FREDERICK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Easton, in the 'county of Northampton and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and usefulTrolley, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to electric-current collectors, but more particularly to overhead Io trolleys.

One of the objects of the invention isto provide an efficient trolley which maintains a perfect contact with the trolley-wire and at the same time avoids friction therewith,

I5 whereby the liability of the current being in,

terrupted, so as to spark the motor in the car- Will be reduced to a minimum.

A further object is to construct a currentcollector which will notY be subject to deterizo oration by the atmospheric changes, so as to reduce the efficiency thereof.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will appear in the following description, and the novel features thereof will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that various changes in the form, proportion, and minor details of construction may be resorted to withoutdeparting from the spirit or sacrificgo ing any of the advantages of this invention.l

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal sectional View of a trolley constructed in accordance with my invention, and Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1.

In the preferred embodiment of my invention, asillustrated in the accompanying drawings, the collector is shown as a trolley-harp 1, havingthe usual forked or bifurcated end 4o 2, which carries the contacts for the trolleywire 3, lying in the intersecting space 4,

' formed by the arms 5 and 6 of the harp.

The contacts carried by the harp each consists of Va spherical body 7 within'a cup 8, provided with'a circular groove or raceway 9, in which antifriction-balls 10 are disposed, so as to permit the spherical body 7 to turn in all directions. These balls can be held in the raceway by ball-retainers l1, if desired. The cu ps 5o S are of the same interior diameter, though both ends are threaded exteriorly, beingprovided withangular openings 12 for the insertion of a tool to apply or remove them. In actual practice the cups will be secured in the arms and 6 and at the base of the inter- 55 seating space 4.. It will be seen that the contacts are arranged in pyramidal formation in aggroupment, so that the voppositely-disposed edges of the cups carried by the arms 5 and 6 will slightly overlap the edges of the 6o lower cup and prevent any displacement of the spherical body 7 therefrom. Either or both of the upper cups can be adjusted in the arms 5 and 6 to decrease or increase the distance from one to the other, and thus limit the upward movement of said lower spherical body, as well as prevent the displacement of the bodies which they carry. It will also be observed that the cups and the spherical contacts carried thereby are interchangeable, 7o owing to the fact that they are structural equivalents. When it is necessary to replace or repair one of the contacts, a new one can readily be substituted from a stock supply, thus resulting in a considerable saving in time and expense.

By utilizingV such a construction of collector as described by me a perfectand even contact with the trolley-wire will be assured at all times, and the usefulness of the motor 8o will be greatly prolonged, owing to the absence of sparking due to imperfect contacts.

As each of the spherical bodies 7 is capable of moving in all directions and as the upper contacts are slightly spaced apart from the lower one, a groove is formed into which the trolley will have a tendency to lie, and thereby prevent jumping of the trolley from the wire. l

What I claim is-- l 1. A current-collector having an aggroupment of removable contact-retaining receptacles, one of which is a retaining element for another.

2. A current-collector having an aggroup- 95 ment of independently-adjustable contactcontaining receptacles one of which is a retaining element for another.

3. An electric-current collector comprising a carrier having a `plurality of receptacles roo a carrier having an interposed contact and side contacts adjustable toward and away -from each other.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as :5 my own I have hereto aixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

with movable bodies therein, the movable body in one of the receptacles being retained by the other receptacles.

4. An electric-current collector comprising 5 a carrier having a plurality of receptacles arranged in pyramidal formation so that the ed 0res of one of the receptacles are overlapped bybthe edges of the adjacent receptacles, and ELMER E' FREDERICK' a movable body heldin the receptable by the Witnesses: to overlapped edges. WM. J. THOMAS,

5. An electric-current collector comprising THOS. B. THOMAS. 

